


Gifting

by starforged



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M, Mal is the Sun Summoner AU, That's it, that's all there is to this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 14:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12278631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starforged/pseuds/starforged
Summary: Mal just doesn't look as good in black.





	Gifting

“No.”  


Since arriving at the Little Palace, Mal had been overwhelmed. His powers, the change of scenery, the constant fanfare of his arrival, but mostly it was the Darkling. The man had taken a keen interest in him, and he didn’t know what to make of that. It wasn’t what Mal would call unusual, at least not at first. 

He’d always been a little popular, even when he had been - less, he supposed. Swallowing his power down had make him weak and sickly, apparently, but that had never put a damper on who he was. So the attention wasn’t unusual, but the attention of a man as _powerful_  as the Darkling, as important? It wasn’t what he was used to.

Mal was, after all, nobody in the grand scheme of things. 

The Darkling stared at him, one brow arching high, a frown beginning to form along his mouth. He did that a lot, but it felt as though he did this more when Mal did something he didn’t want. “You are refusing the gift?”

“This is what you call a gift?” Mal crossed his arms over his chest. The room, his time, the attention felt like gifts.  


A _kefta_  in black but with golden thread and trim was not what Malyen Oretsev considered a gift. It was a sign. It was ownership. He was the Sun Summoner, but this _gift_  made it seem like he was just an extension of the Darkling’s power.

“A gift would have been you treating me like an equal here.”  


The Darkling watched him carefully, slate gaze drinking him in before eyeing the _kefta_. “No one else gets to wear my colors, Malyen. I am not like anyone else.” A beat, and then, “Neither are you. The gift was meant to show that you are my equal.”

“You’re doing a terrible job, then.” Mal flashed him a grin, and while there was a darkness that descended over the other man’s face, a slight twitch of a smile could be seen ghosting over his mouth.   



End file.
